Saudi Arabia-Crime and Punishment

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The incidence of crime was considered to be relatively low in
Saudi Arabia, and violent street crime was particularly unusual.
Crime rates had, however, risen with the presence of foreign
workers. An increase noted in the level of petty crime in 1989
was linked to unemployment among Saudis and Yemeni residents of
the kingdom. The severity of penalties and the rigid system of
enforcement were credited by both officials and ordinary citizens
with contributing to the high standards of public safety.
Supporters of severe punishment believed that, although carried
out infrequently, a beheading or stoning reminded the people that
such penalties remained in force. Some observers disagreed,
citing cultural traits and the social forces bearing on Arabs of
the peninsula as the main inhibiting factors.

According to the Statistical Yearbook published by the
Ministry of Finance and National Economy, the most common crimes
in 1988 were theft (7,553 cases), the production, sale, and
consumption of alcohol (5,085 cases), altercations and quarreling
(3,651 cases), and moral offenses (2,576 cases). There were
fifty-six murders and 340 cases of attempted and threatened
murder. There were twenty-nine cases of arson and 574 cases
involving forgery or fraud.

Crimes subject to the death sentence included murder,
apostasy from Islam, adultery, drug smuggling, and sabotage.
Under certain conditions, rape and armed robbery could also lead
to execution. Executions could be carried out by beheading,
firing squad, or stoning of the convicted person in a drugged
state. All seventeen executions carried out in 1990 were by
beheading.

The sharia sets forth rigorous requirements for proof of
adultery or fornication. For the crime of adultery, four
witnesses to the act must swear to having witnessed the crime,
and if such an accusation does not hold up in court, the
witnesses are then liable to punishment. No one was executed for
adultery in 1990, although during 1989 there were reliable
reports of nonjudicial public stonings for adultery.

Under the sharia, repeated theft is punishable by amputation
of the right hand, administered under anesthetic. Because of its
severity, a number of qualifications have been introduced to
mitigate the punishment. If the thief repents and makes
restitution before the case is brought before a judge, the
punishment can be reduced; furthermore, the victim can demand
recompense rather than punishment or can grant a pardon. Highway
crime was considered a crime against public safety and thus
subject to more severe punishment. Aggravated theft can be
punished by cross-amputation of a hand and a foot. Such cases
have been unusual, but Amnesty International reported four of
them in 1986. In 1990 fewer than ten hand amputations took place,
at least five of which were administered to foreigners.

Flogging with a cane was often imposed for offenses against
religion and public morality, such as drunkenness and gambling
and the neglect of prayer requirements and fasting. Although the
flogging was painful, the skin was not broken. The purpose was to
degrade rather than cripple the offender and serve as a deterrent
to others. United States citizens have been flogged for alcoholrelated offenses, usually receiving from thirty to 120 strokes. A
Kuwaiti sentenced to prison in connection with terrorist bombings
in Mecca was condemned to receive a total of 1,500 lashes over
the course of his twenty-year sentence.

In 1987, based on a ruling by the ulama, drug smugglers and
those who received and distributed drugs from abroad were made
subject to the death sentence for bringing "corruption" into the
country. First-time offenders faced prison terms, floggings, and
fines, or a combination of all three punishments. Those convicted
for a second time faced execution. By the end of 1987, at least
nine persons had been executed for offenses that involved drug
smuggling, most of them non-Saudis. According to the police, the
antidrug campaign and the death penalty had by 1989 reduced
addiction by 60 percent and drug use by 26 percent. By late 1991,
more than 110 drug sellers had been arrested since the law was
put into effect. Saudi officials claimed that the kingdom had the
lowest rate of drug addiction in the world, which they attributed
to the harsh punishments and the pious convictions of ordinary
Saudis. Drug use was said to persist, however, among wealthy
younger Saudis who acquired the habit abroad. Drug users included
some members of the royal family, who took advantage of their
privileged status to import narcotics.